Hydrogen generation from Al‐water reaction catalyzed by Fe/AlOOH composite

Abstract

Abstract Hydrogen generation via Al‐water reaction promoted by special catalysts has great potential, which can provide hydrogen source for portable fuel cells. In this work, we use wet chemical reduction method to prepare a high‐activity Fe/AlOOH composite with better stability and demonstrate its usage as a catalyst for Al‐water reaction. It is found that Fe/AlOOH composite not only significantly promotes the Al‐water reaction but also shortens the induction time. The catalytic activity of Fe/AlOOH directly correlated with its active area, which, in turn, is closely related to the AlOOH:Fe molar ratio. In addition, increasing the weight content of Fe/AlOOH, reaction temperature, and the Al:water ratio improve the hydrogen generation performance of Al‐water reaction. Mechanism analyses show that water dissociation on AlOOH surface and galvanic microinteractions between Fe and Al promotes the hydration of surface passivating oxide film of Al particle, which improves the Al‐water reaction dynamics. The present work provides a new way to produce hydrogen from Al‐water reaction for portable devices.

Keywords

• aluminum
• catalyst
• Fe/AlOOH composite
• hydrogen generation
• induction time